From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The road to 2026 governorship election in Osun State might have kicked off in earnest as the arch-rival of Governor Ademola Adeleke in the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dotun Babayemi, and the Board of Trustees member of the party, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, officially defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Friday.
Oyedokun shocked the PDP when he released a letter to renounce his membership of the party late Wednesday, citing principle, noting that the ideals of the founding members where he belongs had been sorely contaminated.
“In taking this step which is not even without due consultation with my team loyalists in the PDP, I have consequently decided to shift my allegiance to the APC where I believe my experience, efforts and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated,” Oyedokun said.
The two chieftains of the PDP led thousands of their followers to the party secretariat of the APC where they were received by the former governor and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, and promised to join hands to unseat Adeleke comes 2026.
The National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru also joined other chieftains of the party to present the flag of the party to the new members.
Oyetola who warned members of the party not to discriminate against anybody, maintained that there is no new member and everybody has equal right in the party.
Speaking after receiving the flag, Babayemi said the decision to join APC was to liberate the state from bad leadership, saying that the last time Osun has a good government was when Oyetola was the governor.
The party chairman in the state, Tajudeen Lawal, assured the defectors and their supporters that there would be equal opportunity for them and the old members of the party.
He said, “It is worthwhile to celebrate you as you refused to be part of an obvious wobbled government that could not have the courage to disclose to the governed that in 2023, the Governor Ademola Adeleke-led government accessed N10b loan from international financial institutions to oil some of the infrastructural projects going on in the state, including the Ilesa Water Project,” Lawal said.
The national scribe of the party, Basiru, enjoined members of the party to receive the new members with joy and avoid discrimination that may bring the party backward in the future.